I almost died at Red River Gorge when I was 17. My friend, Michutzel Roberto Giglio, and I crashed through a guard rail on a rainy night. Our car plunged 65 feet to the bottom of a ravine, splitting the boulder on which it landed. On the way down, I yelled, “Lord Jesus, have mercy!”

I have hearing loss. My right ear serves only for purposes of ornamentation. In 2005 I went into the Atlantic Ocean and came out with only my left ear working. I'm not alone in this condition. A colleague, a very able reporter in town, likewise went into the Atlantic off the coast of Florida and lost the use of his right ear.

The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, where I work, likes to say it's an advocacy organization, distinguishing itself from agencies that provide direct service to clients. The distinction is valid, except for the fact that the Homeless Coalition offers some very important services: a place for homeless people to receive mail, to use a telephone, to have a cup of coffee or a drink of cold water. A place for homeless people to sit down for a few minutes in air conditioning or heat.

Obama’s landslide victory even includes Hamilton County

Change is in the air across the United States, but some things remain constant: for example, the slow pace of tabulating ballots in Hamilton County. But given the dramatic finish to the nearly two-year-long race for the White House, the local problems were just an annoying delay.

Frank Leonhartsberger used to scream in his sleep. I knew this from my mother, who lived with him for a while. Born in Allentown, Pa., to immigrant parents, his father died when he was 3 years old. His mother took him back to her family home in Austria, just in time for the Anschluss, the takeover by Nazi Germany.

Tibet Fest supports endangered tradition

Proceeds benefit a spiritual lineage that’s under threat of extinction. These refugees from a most unlikely oppressor — the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner — have found a home in a most unlikely setting. GSL is less than a mile from the hyper suburban sprawl of Colerain Avenue, a proximity belied by the quietude that reigns over the 8.